Hampton police excessive force trial scheduled for Dec. 3

Judge dismisses three of eight counts against police

HAMPTON — A federal judge dismissed three of eight counts in a lawsuit filed against Hampton police officers accused of using excessive force while arresting a man on charges of disorderly conduct outside of Stacey Jane's Grille & Bar.

Comment

By Patrick Cronin

seacoastonline.com

By Patrick Cronin

Posted Nov. 1, 2013 at 2:00 AM

By Patrick Cronin

Posted Nov. 1, 2013 at 2:00 AM

» Social News

HAMPTON — A federal judge dismissed three of eight counts in a lawsuit filed against Hampton police officers accused of using excessive force while arresting a man on charges of disorderly conduct outside of Stacey Jane's Grille & Bar.

Frederick Fortin, of Haverhill, Mass., filed the civil suit in 2012, claiming that officers Steven Tousignant, Robert Turcotte and Joe Galvin's actions were "reckless and unreasonable" when they arrested him in 2009.

In the suit, which also names the town of Hampton as a defendant, Fortin claims he was falsely arrested and racked up $70,000 in medical bills due to injuries he says were sustained at the hands of the officers.

Judge Paul J. Barbadoro supported part of the town's motion for a summery judgement rejecting Fortin's claims of regarding false arrest because he later pled guilty to the disorderly conduct charge.

He also rejected claims that Fortin's arrest was in retaliation for invoking his First Amendment rights and dismissed the excessive force claims against Galvin as there was not evidence presented to support his claim.

However, Barbadoro kept the excessive force claims against Tousignant and Turcotte as they were the arresting officers.

The town — which employed both men — is still liable for their alleged actions.

Barbadoro said the evidence is "minimally sufficient" to support Fortin's claims to warrant a trial.

"Fortin asserts that he posed no threat to the officers and did not resist their effort to detain him," Barbadoro stated in his decision. "His account also supports his claim that the officers who arrested him used unnecessary force."

Fortin alleges in the lawsuit that on Aug. 23, 2009, he was having dinner and drinks at Stacey Janes on Ocean Boulevard with friends. When he exited the bar, he claims he saw two officers attempting to remove patrons who were outside smoking cigarettes in a narrow alleyway on the side of the building.

Fortin claims he told an officer, who had just arrived, that he believed what the officers were doing was wrong and wanted their badge numbers and names. It's at that point that Fortin alleges an officer picked him up from behind and slammed him hard to the ground and arrested him for disorderly conduct.

While in a cell, Fortin claims he passed out on the floor and was taken by ambulance to Exeter Hospital. X-rays from the hospital showed his lung volumes to be low and also showed some "crowdings of the pulmonary makings," according to the lawsuit.

A couple of months later, Fortin claims he went to Bringham and Women's Hospital Clinic fearing he cracked a rib during the altercation that occurred with the officers.

Fortin said it was later determined via an MRI that he suffered a rib and vertebral fracture and rotator cuff tear and ended up spending $74,999 in medical bills.

But Fortin's account of what happened that night differs from the department's account, which paints him as being unruly and causing a disturbance. In its answer to the complaint, the town asserts that officers were moving bar patrons along when Fortin repeatedly attempted to engage the officers that were there, yelling and swearing at them.

When police informed Fortin that he was under arrest for causing a disturbance, the town claims that Fortin resisted and the officers were required to "bring him to the ground for his safety and theirs."

A jury trial for the remaining counts is currently scheduled for Dec. 3.